An Apostolic publication promoting balanced conservatism … "the finest of the wheat!"

What’s wrong with jewelry?

Why can’t women cut their hair?

Why can’t women wear pants?

What’s wrong with television?

One word defines the problem with each of these subjects: worldliness.

1 John 2:15-16“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

1. What’s wrong with jewelry?

The Bible teaches against wearing jewelry in several places. Jewelry adorns the flesh and promotes pride and vanity; it indulges selfism and feeds the ego.

1 Timothy 2:9:“8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not withbroided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

1 Peter 3:1-5:“1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:”

Isaiah 3:16-24:“16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: 17 Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, 19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, 21 The rings, and nose jewels, 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. 24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.”

Hosea 2:13:“13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.”

Genesis 35:1-5:“1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.”

Exodus 32:1-4, 21-25:“1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.21 And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)”

Old Testament passages that seem to view the wearing of jewelry in a favorable light should be understood in much the same manner as we understand the Old Testament practice of polygamy: while it was permitted and even used by God at times, we understand from New Testament teachings that such practices are not the perfect will of God. Any woman that wants to use OT passages to argue in favor of wearing jewelry in the NT must not only ignore the teachings of Peter and Paul, but she must also defend the OT practice of one man having multiple wives!

2. Why can’t women cut their hair?

The Bible teaches against women cutting their hair in 1 Corinthians 11:3-15:

“3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”

God wants there to be a clear distinction between the appearance of the male and the female. This is covered in greater detail in the answer to question #3, below. Shorn means cut (shear). “Long” means “uncut”. When a woman with cut hair comes to the Lord her hair may be “short” but when she stops cutting it, it becomes “long” in the sense of “uncut”. If this were not the case, then women who come to the Lord with hair that has been cut short would have to wait until their hair grew out before they would be acceptable to God relative to their hair. Short hair gives the appearance of masculinity; long hair gives the appearance of femininity. Just as nature teaches us that it is a shame for a man to have long “uncut” hair, we also understand that it is a shame for a woman to have short “cut” hair.

3. Why can’t women wear pants?

The Bible teaches against women wearing clothes that pertain to men in Deuteronomy 22:5:

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so [are] abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

We don’t even question the rightness of a man wearing a dress – it is so obviously and blatantly perverse. There was a time when society deemed it just as wrong for a woman to wear pants! Cross-dressing is the outward fringe of an extremely perverse spirit of immorality. Pants on a woman do not promote modesty. Those who want to wear pants so they will be modest doing a man’s work need to not do a man’s work. God made men and women different – not only psychologically, but also physiologically – for a distinct reason. Anything that tends to remove that difference will surely incur the disfavor of God. Wearing pants goes with having short, cut hair – it’s a man thing (masculine). Wearing dresses goes with having long, uncut hair – it’s a woman thing (feminine). It’s just as wrong for a woman to be masculine as it is for a man to be effeminate. The question “Who wears the pants in the family?” has long been understood to mean “Who is the man of the family?” or “Who is the head or authority figure?”. A woman wearing pants is an abomination in the same manner as a woman who is not submitted to the authority of a man.

4. What’s wrong with television?

Psalm 101:3:“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”

Television promotes and condones all these ungodly styles (and more) in direct contradiction to the teaching of the Bible. Television programming, by and large, is an evil spiritual drug that is administered directly into the brain, causing terrible long-term adverse effects to the human mind, spirit and soul. It feeds the flesh, causing its viewers to be carnally minded! (“To be carnally minded is death…”) It can ultimately destroy lives, marriages, families and homes. It is a massive propaganda machine of the devil. The lure of advertising gimmicks and carefully contrived dramatic episodes deceive the masses world-wide on a daily basis. News programs and commentaries insidiously promote the secular bias of ungodly men and women. Religious broadcasts mislead millions by the hour, making television just another channel on the broad way that leads to destruction. Sex, adultery, fornication and all conceivable types of immorality, violence, perversion, cursing, lying, cheating, stealing – the list goes on and on: this is the essence of television. Homosexuality and other forms of perversion are commonly portrayed as the norm. The occult is promoted and even glorified. Profanity and vulgarity are routinely heard on many programs.

Romans 1:18-32:“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Television has presented its viewers with images of jewelry-laden, short-haired, pants-wearing women for so long that these things have become the norm, the status quo, when in fact these styles stand in stark opposition to the principles set forth in the Word of God. This should cause honest-hearted, God-fearing men and women to soberly ponder what impact television watching is having on them and their children. Television represents the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life – all that is in the world!

Rev. Tim D. Cormier

(C) Copyright held by Tim D. Cormier. This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part, except for personal use, without the express written permission of the author.